Transition tips for exiting open water

Exiting open water is an often overlooked part of the triathlon swim, but it is where many seconds can be gained and lost. Not only that, but you can waste physical and mental energy before you arrive at your bike which is unnecessary.

First up, make sure that you’re swimming toward the finish, knowing where you are going. Before the swim, check out landmarks that you can sight toward, whether that might be tall buildings, flags, trees etc.

While you may not kick your legs too much in your swim, in the last 100-200m you want to get them working a little bit. What this does is it distributes blood a little more evenly around your body and hopefully will prevent you from getting lightheaded as you stand up!

Don’t stop swimming normally until you can touch the bottom of the water, keep going until your torso is nearly touching the floor. For one thing, it’s a lot easier to stand up in shallower water; two, it will be quicker to swim than run until water is lower than knee height.

Once you are upright (use both hands to press down so you can get your feet under you), pull your goggles off so you can see clearly. HOLD ON TO THEM!

As soon as you’re feeling more stable, you can walk/jog/run toward transition, and at the same time start undoing your wetsuit. Hopefully, while it’s still wet, you can get it to your waist fairly quickly. Some events require you to remove your wetsuit before you get to transition – make sure you know the rules!

When it comes to fully removing the wetsuit, pull it down to the floor and stand on it – then you can pull your feet up and out almost in a marching action.

Finally, before you start getting the bike ready, make sure that all your swim kit (wetsuit, hat and goggles etc) is neatly where they should be so that you don’t get penalised!

I always think the best way to make transitions easier is to know the routes in and out, know your rules etc before you start. It’s the best way of reducing any unnecessary stress!